User blog:Dio Buccaneer/Breakdown Analysis by Dio Buccaneer - 05. Rai 's Declining Power
Ahoy my noble readers! Welcome to the Breakdown Analysis Series with Dio Buccaneer! It has been a while since we had one of those and I missed them. Today 's subject is one that I believe needs this format too. We will be talking about Rai 's powerloss and how it happens. It is the main "thing" which everything else in the series revolves around and deserves a breakdown. Well, let 's begin... Civil War: The earliest usage of Raizel 's power was in Rai 's adventure where he was forced to use the Blood Phoenix to finish off Kurmark after the Blood Stone made him too powerful to kill with the Blood Field. A while after the Blood Stone was given to Lukedonia, a civil war erupted. Rai was forced to kill hundreds of Nobles as well as his own brother who possessed the Blood Demon transformation too, showing that he had power comparable to his to an extent. Rai had yet to show any of the side-effects of using his power indicating that good rest and/or hibernation would have him recover from the usage. This incident might have been the catalist in him being softer on those who were close to him even at the expense of his own life rather than the more readily resolved person who he might have been. Further information on the Civil War is required. Frankenstein: After coming to work for Rai, Frankenstein was frequently challenged into battle by the Clan Leaders. In one fight with Urokai Agvain, Frankenstein went on a rampage. Rai was forced to block a hit from him and awakened him to stop his rampage. The act tired Rai so much that he started shaking his muscles and showed his first on-screen sign of health issues. Muzaka and the Betrayal: After Muzaka 's daughter was killed and the Humans were blamed, Muzaka's rampage was stopped by Rai who tried to reason with him while getting attacked in the process. After Rai stopped playing around and went for the kill, he had sustained heavy injuries that forced him to hibernate for 820 years. His power and health never recovered fully but was brought to a more livable and stable condition. Begining of the series: At the begining of the series Rai seemed all-powerful. In hindsight that was a bit of a problem however. While he restricted himself to his less straining techniques, he also fought against opponents Frankenstein could easily dispose off once he summoned the Dark Spear (and stopped toying around). Point is that Rai could not afford to fight all the times he did and it was not necessary to play a too active role in at least the fights against Jake, Krantz and the 12th Elder. Lukedonia and the Lord: Raizel was forced to use his true power against Raskreia but the situation was resolved somewhat quickly. He did use a significant amount of his lifeforce though but gained valuable allies and the RK was formed. The first and second wave of Elders: After the Cerberus were destroyed by the newly formed RK, the 12th Elder attacked and was defeated by Rai when he tried to use him as a hostage managing to only worsen Rai 's condition. During the fight with the 10th Elder, Rai is forced to take the self-destruction blast of the Elder and is in an even worse state. When they come back and find Takeo and Tao at death's door and the lab ruined, Frankenstein concludes that he lacks the equipment to save them and Rai resolves to awaken them. This forces Rai into a short hibernation. The third wave of Elders: Rai is forcefully woken from his hibernation by the fight of a berserk Frankenstein. Despite managing to block the attacks of Urokai Agvain and Zarga Siriana, Rai is further pushed beyond recovery when they summon their strongest arts and combine them to destroy him. Rai is able to overcome them using the Blood Demon form and by casting the Blood Phoenix but again suffers for it. Frankenstein manages to use a lot of his power to make another seal for him. Assault on Roctis' Island: As Ignes kidnaps Seira, Regis and Rael, Rai, Frankenstein and Rajak follow them to Roctis' Island. Seperating so as to search for the kids, Rai ends up using his powers for much more than he did in the third wave. First he blinded Ignes in pure rage then shielded the kids before facing Roctis who in turn put a better fight than the two other traitors but was ultimately defeated against the Blood Phoenix. To spite Rai and to cover up her escape, Ignes unleashed a crazy Muzaka who was long thought dead. Muzaka caused actual injuries to Rai and forced to use the Blood Phoenix again despite all this powerloss. This only managed to knock Muzaka down but did little in way of actually injure or incapacitate him. This event serves to give us a measurement of how much different Rai was when at full power. He could kill Muzaka in the past fight but barely made it out alive now. This is also the time at which Rai 's health was at its worst. Almost Restoration: During the investigation of the two Elders (3rd and 5th) Raskreia arrived and gave up her claim on the second Ragnarok which she gave to Rai by force. This, the Previous Lord revealed in his message, could restore Rai's lifeforce and health but only a little. Rai looks about as capable as he was after he woke up from his hibernation. Lukedonia Defense: This arc sparked an event that affected Rai greater than any other before with the possible exception of the first battle against Muzaka: Rai got amputated. First things first, Rai used up power to combat Lagus Tradio who had been charged up by the Blood Stone and those he had absorbed. It his battle he was heavily injured and had left an opening that, had Edian not protected him, would be the end of him. Before that however, Lagus managed to cut on of the wings of his Blood Demon form which did not grow back. This left Rai weakened and proved that those wings were not constructs made from his powers but actual limbs of his. While Rai managed to finish Lagus off, he lost much of the power he gained from Ragnarok. Werewolf Revolution: This arc involved attacking the very heart of the Werewolf Society and things looked dire from the start. Rai had lost much of his regained power and one of his wings and that was before it all began. Enemy territory with enemies that waited for them and no idea how to get out. Rai 's battles involved fighting and getting injured by Ignes and Titan, a monstrocity made from multiple people and could adapt to abilities such as the Blood Field and could regenerate stronger on top of its immense strength. Rai used up his regained power and then some to attack that thing and finished it of with a matter compression technique that ended up killing that ever-regenerating monster. The already costy techniques such as Blood Field and Blood Phoenix were tried before that and that technique on top of those were used after Rai made up his mind to win even if he were to die and was left in his worst state yet. And then he had to fight Maduke who went all out too. It marked the second time he had to fight a second big bad of an arc and the first he had to work together with someone else to deal with them and first time ever where he failed to summon the power to finish his opponent on his own. Maduke was regenerating and absorbing the powers from his people and then he moved to absorb that of everyone on the island with his machines that did no favors to Rai either. Rai needed to borrow power from Muzaka to finish Maduke off with the move he used on the Titan. This, to me, is the indication that things are at their most dire for Rai ever, beyond even the time after Roctis ' death. The progress against the Union is small consulation to me and I believe the cast. How does the powerloss itself occur: The main theory is that his energy tank just runs out but many facts have been contradicting that theory. Rai 's own body gets injured in the process of summoning his power on top of being more tired and barely keeping together doing tasks such as holding a teacup which takes zero effort from a Human. It has been clear to me that it is not just that he runs out of power but that the nature of his power damages his body such as muscles, blood vessels and organs just by being used and hinders his overall health as his body has to keep its own power from killing it when it uses it. Injuries sustained in the fight are making it worse by using the same power to heal. It is my theory that regeneration uses up aura on its own which is something Rai cannot affort. My idea is that the difference between (non-Modified) Noble and Werewolf regeneration is that a Werewolf regenerates faster and can (in time) regenerate limbs which an (Unmodified) Noble cannot do. A Noble regenerates from deep wounds in a few seconds or even minutes depending on the severity of the injury but they will not regenerate limbs ever. With Modification the lines are pretty much nonexistent. In any case, Rai does not have the ability to regenerate lost limbs and any such injury will only make things worse. His wing getting cut made him lose power and he had to use Muzaka to give himself the strength to finish off Maduke. An observation: When killing Maduke, Rai borrowed some power from Muzaka to finish his technique and that filled him with Muzaka 's power so much so that a new wing grew from his lost one that had a greenish color. Now let me make this clear: Muzaka did not recharge Rai but he allowed him to access both their powers and attack with the combined strength. That power will not stick and Rai still had to use his own lifeforce for the technique making this an one time thing. However a question remains: Can this borrowing or sharing of power help Rai expend less in every fight? In my opinion the answer is no. Rai always using power even with power sharing. By the time Rai gets involved in a fight, everyone who could share power has been exhausted and/or knocked out (assuming that they have anywhere near Muzaka 's stamina and aura capacity to begin with) and Muzaka is not always going to be there. However, there is one person amongst the cast that has the power to surpass even Muzaka in that regard: Frankenstein. He can increase his power by absorbing people and add their aura and strength to his own. That being said, if Frankenstein could supply Rai even temporarily with his own power, he would have done so. Since he has not done so does not mean that it cannot be done but that it could cause farther harm to Rai. He has managed to make objects that limit Rai 's power output but that is about it. Gejutel said that Frankenstein 's aura is like poison to all life and as someone who faced him a lot he does possess some insight on its effects. If that is not enough proof then take Frankenstein 's word who said that the Dark Spear and Rai 's power are incompatible. Also, in the end, while power sharing can provide Rai with enough power to finish his enemy, it does not protect his body if the nature of his power happens to harm the user. Kind of like a gun that can fire powerful bullets but malfunctioning from the damage from explosion. Final Thoughts: The Union is running out of powerful members proportionate to Rai losing health. Three Elders and their direct supporters remain. The question on how much of a life will Rai have by the end remains. Alright guys, that was it. This has been Breakdown Analysis with Dio Buccaneer. See you next time and remember... Live Nobly and take care, everyone! 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